Explosion Mechanisms and Energy Sources Powering Super-Luminous Supernovae

With peak luminosities L peak~10^45 erg/s, the new class of Super-Luminous supernovae (SLSNe) outshine standard SN explosions of a factor ~10-100 and represent the death of the most massive stars in our Universe. The nature of their exceptional luminosity is still unclear and requires exotic explosion mechanisms and/or peculiar sources of energy. Here we propose rapid Swift follow up of 2 newly-discovered SLSNe to map their UV and X-ray emission during the early stages of their evolution as part of our multi-wavelength effort through programs on the VLA, Chandra and optical/NIR facilities. The final aim is to: (i) Pin down the energy source of SLSNe; (ii) Map the diversity of their progenitor stars and pre-explosion evolution.